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> Do we really need to send plain versions or it's just a second system syndrome of doing everything "right"? Yes, you do need to send plain versions. I make m

by dozzie 9y ago

> Do we really need to send plain versions or it's just a second system syndrome of doing everything "right"? Yes, you do need to send plain versions. I make my e-mail clients to use plain text version first, and if that's not available, HTML version dumbed down to plain text. The cases when somebody needs to send formatted e-mail are really, really rare. Though... > From day to day, we send lots of emails and a huge fraction of those are of marketing nature. ...I delete marketing e-mails on the spot.

notrheadagain 9y ago
Personally, I agree emails should be sent in two versions. However, there's a trend of sending just HTML. This article was written some time ago https://litmus.com/blog/best-practices-for-plain-text-emails-a-look-at-why-theyre-important https://litmus.com/blog/best-practices-for-plain-text-emails... and latest comments will also promote the idea of dumping plain text. Regarding marketing emails, I mean every automated email sequence. Like, you definitely get receipts and stuff over email. And those aren't written by hand.
- dozzie 9y ago
  Receipt or order confirmation is not (or at least should not be) a marketing e-mail. It's a technicality necessary for transaction.
  - notrheadagain 9y ago
    However, the rule of thumb, especially for drip campaigns, is that you do get some marketing content with almost every email. This could be a specific sign off and such.
curtisblaine 9y ago
> Yes, you do need to send plain versions. I make my e-mail clients to use plain text version first, and if that's not available, HTML version dumbed down to plain text. So if OP sends an HTML mail, you will be able to read it anyway, proving that they don't need to send plain text at all :)
- dozzie 9y ago
  Sure, if he doesn't care that his fancy tables and CSS formatting will look like sh&t on my terminal, defeating the very first thing that marketing material must do: look good.
  - notrheadagain 9y ago
    The plain text versions I was talking about are those well-formatted and structured ones. Where you get the minimalistic beauty of simple formatting. Markdown-style, maybe.

by dozzie 9y ago

notrheadagain 9y ago

Personally, I agree emails should be sent in two versions. However, there's a trend of sending just HTML. This article was written some time ago https://litmus.com/blog/best-practices-for-plain-text-emails-a-look-at-why-theyre-important https://litmus.com/blog/best-practices-for-plain-text-emails... and latest comments will also promote the idea of dumping plain text. Regarding marketing emails, I mean every automated email sequence. Like, you definitely get receipts and stuff over email. And those aren't written by hand.

dozzie 9y ago
Receipt or order confirmation is not (or at least should not be) a marketing e-mail. It's a technicality necessary for transaction.
- notrheadagain 9y ago
  However, the rule of thumb, especially for drip campaigns, is that you do get some marketing content with almost every email. This could be a specific sign off and such.

curtisblaine 9y ago

> Yes, you do need to send plain versions. I make my e-mail clients to use plain text version first, and if that's not available, HTML version dumbed down to plain text. So if OP sends an HTML mail, you will be able to read it anyway, proving that they don't need to send plain text at all :)

dozzie 9y ago
Sure, if he doesn't care that his fancy tables and CSS formatting will look like sh&t on my terminal, defeating the very first thing that marketing material must do: look good.
- notrheadagain 9y ago
  The plain text versions I was talking about are those well-formatted and structured ones. Where you get the minimalistic beauty of simple formatting. Markdown-style, maybe.